The greeting.
Grace to you in the name of our Savior Christ Jesus.
The scripture. 
Please open your Bible to First John chapter five. I will read from verse one to verse seventeen. The sermon will come from verse 14 to 17. Hear God’s perfect word – read.
I John 5:1. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world– our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
I John 5:14. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.
The prayer – for assistance.
Please pray with me – pray.
The assurance.
Last week, from verses 13 and 14, we considered the doctrine of assurance mainly. You remember what we mean by assurance, verse 14 John calls it confidence. This is a Spirit-wrought graced-faith that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ savingly, that we are the objects of God’s saving grace and love. The Bible says so. And the indwelling Holy Spirit confirms it as so. (WCF 18.1-3)
The prayer – from assurance.
And we brought in briefly the doctrine of prayer flowing out of our assurance.
We said that Believing people pray to God the Father through Christ the Son because we have faith, even strong faith or confidence that our Abba Father hears us.
Faith joins us savingly to Christ. (Jn.15:1-10) And faith lives in communion with Christ. And perhaps the primary way we express our communion or our friendship with God is by prayer. True prayer is an expression of true faith in the true God. (Gal.2:20)
I meant to mention this last Sunday, but I ran out of time. And because this is related to our morning passage, I think it is necessary for me to start with a brief definition of prayer. 
Here is a summary of what we believe that the Word of God teaches on prayer.
WLC 178. What is prayer? (see also WSC 98)
Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God,(1) in the name of Christ,(2) by the help of his Spirit;(3) with confession of our sins,(4) and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.(5) (1) Ps. 62:8 (2) John 16:23 (3) Rom. 8:26 (4) Ps. 32:5,6; Dan. 9:4 (5) Phil. 4:6
Another thing to keep in mind is that true prayer, or believing prayer is an expression of our holy worship of holy God. (WCF 21.3-6)
We have said previously in our Nehemiah series in the evening that even our day-to-day work is an expression of our worship of God, how much more so when we consciously and directly turn our faces and our hearts away from other things to the Living God and speak to Him. (Col.3:1-3)
May we remember to pray holily, considering every prayer as an act of worship. (Mt.6:9-13)
The classifications.
The Bible is filled with all sorts of prayers. What I mean is that there are various classes of prayers or types of prayers that say distinct things to God based on their type.
Most of us are familiar with the acronym A.C.T.S. adoration, confession of sins, thanksgiving, and supplication.
I will offer a brief explanation, and I will use a few references from the book of Psalms. By this you will better see the prayer type or distinction. The evident reason why the book of Psalms helps us understand the subject of prayer is because the book of Psalms is a compilation of prayers.
Adoration is adoring the adorable God for who He is. Think of Psalms 145 and 146 and 1, 19, 119. 
Psalm 145:1. A Psalm of Praise, of David. I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.
This is doxology, praise. (Rom.11:33-36, 16:25-27, I Tim.1:17)
Confession is confessing our sins to our merciful sin-forgiving God, in the name of the Savior, seeking forgiveness, and seeking restoration of our fellowship. Think Psalms 32 and 51. (I Jn.1:9, Acts 19:18)
Psalm 32:3. When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Thanksgiving is living a life of gratitude before God for all that He is to us, for giving us all things, this is His will for our life. Psalm 23. (I Thess.5:18, Pss.118:1)
Psalm 23:1. Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
And then supplication, this is the one that comes most naturally and easily to us, petitioning, or asking God for our needs and for our wants. Psalms 86, 141, 142, 143. (Mt.6:9-13)
Psalm 141:1. A Psalm of David. O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! 2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. 3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
The petition.
Well, this morning we are continuing with the theme of confidence and prayer.
Now we are going to consider a certain type of prayer along with certain content of that prayer, and that being petitions or supplications – the easier type prayer for us because we are always needy children.
We know that we are looking at petition prayer because our text tells us so.
I John 5:14. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.
The word.
Look at verses 14, and 15, and 16. The underlying Greek word used five times is the very same root word. The verb is aiteo, the activity of asking. (αἰτέω) The noun is aitema, the thing asked for. (αἴτημα)
Let’s address the activity of asking.
To ask is to put a question to a person seeking a response from that person. If you ask a person for something that means you want that person to give you that thing. Obviously.
There is a bit of a difference in common speech from simply asking versus a request. A request is a polite form of asking, or a more formal form of asking.
Similar words for ask or for request are, to appeal, to petition, to plead, to beg, and based on the context even to demand reflecting the intensity of the prayer.
The need and the need Provider.
The truths contained within these words denote that the asker is in lack and he or she perceives that God has what he or she wants or needs.
Of course this is true. God is the all supreme, all sufficient One. God is the source of our being and of all well-being.
And man is the ever dependent one. And I mean dependent upon God for our being and well-being.
The privilege.
For the Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we stand in a unique position to God or before God.
We are not merely petitioning God as a creature to our Creator. We are doing that. But we are doing much more. We are coming as Beloved reconciled children to our heavenly Father, through the Beloved Mediator Jesus Christ. (I Tim.2:1-5)
Let me give us a few Scripture verses that speak to our petitioning our God.
Romans 8:14. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Hebrews 4:14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The extent of petitions.
Beloved as those loved by God in the Beloved Christ, God tells us in His word that we can ask for anything in prayer. (Mt.21:22, Mk.11:24, Jn.14:14, I Jn.3:22, 5:15, Mt.7:7-11) But the “anything” has to be limited to God-approved anything.
The rule for petitions.
See here in our passage that God tells us that we are to ask for things agreeable to His will.
I John 5:14. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Christ teaches us to pray this way in the Lord’s Prayer, the “Our Father”, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mt.6:9-13)
Then Christ shows us to pray this way. Our Jesus prayed to His Father, now our Father, these words,
Luke 22:41. And He (Jesus) withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
The revealed will of God.
There are only two ways by which God reveals His will. One way is in creation and in the government of creation, which is providence. (Ps.19:1-6) The other way is in holy Scripture. (2 Tim.3:14-17)
Mainly John is telling Believers to pray for things or not to pray for things as God reveals His will in the Bible.
But before we speak to that, I do also want to point out that how God reveals His will to us in providence also ought to direct our prayers, perhaps in an indirect sense.
Take an example from our depraved modern culture.
If a person is born a boy, then he ought never pray to God to make him a girl. And we as Bible Christians ought never pray for God to so-call turn a boy into a girl. It clearly is God’s will for him to be a boy. His prayer should be how can he be the most Christ honoring boy he can be. You see the idea.
Now the main medium by which we know God’s will, which then governs what we request of God is the Bible. We are to pray for things agreeable to God’s word the Bible. And we are not to pray for things which are disagreeable to the Bible. (Dt.29:29, I Sam.28:15, Dt.18:10, Lev.19:26)
Listen to the apostle James.
James 4:1. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (I Jn.2:15-17)
The revealed will of God on divinely approved things.
In brief God says that those things that He promised to give to His people in Christ, as recorded in holy Scripture, that we can, and we should pray to receive them.
And God says that we shall have them. (2 Cor.1:20, Rom.8:28-39)
The summary of these things are all of the rights of the adopted children of God in Christ. (WLC 74, WSC 34-36)
WCF 12.1 All those that are justified, God (graciously) grants, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption:(1) by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God;(2) have His name put upon them,(3) receive the Spirit of adoption;(4) have access to the throne of grace with boldness;(5) are enabled to cry, Abba, Father;(6) are pitied,(7) protected,(8) provided for,(9) and chastened by Him as by a Father;(10) yet never cast off,(11) but sealed to the day of redemption,(12) and inherit the promises,(13) as heirs of everlasting salvation.(14)
(1) Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:4,5. (2) Rom. 8:17; John 1:12. (3) Jer. 14:9; 2 Cor. 6:18; Rev. 3:12.
(4) Rom. 8:15. (5) Eph. 3:12; Rom. 5:2. (6) Gal. 4:6. (7) Ps. 103:13. (8) Prov. 14:26.
(9) Matt. 6:30,32; 1 Pet. 5:7. (10) Heb. 12:6. (11) Lam. 3:31. (12) Eph. 4:30. (13) Heb. 6:12.
(14) 1 Pet. 1:3,4; Heb. 1:14. See: WSC 36-38
The revealed will of God on unspecified things.
Now this does not exclude us or prohibit us from praying for other things that are not stated specifically in the Bible.
The most ready example of this in all of our experiences is health requests. Of course, we should ask God for health and life, if it be Thy will, give life and health. Please O God.
And then rest. Even if the answer is no, it is only a temporary no. Eventually in the eternal estate, all Believers live and have perfect health unto eternity.
Our God is the God of the Living. All of our loved ones who have died in Christ, now are alive with Christ. (Ps.103:1-17, Isa.33:24, Rev.21:1-4, Mt.22:32-34, Mt.17:1-4)
The revealed will of God on sinners and their sins.
The Prodigal Son 1888 John Macallan Swan 1847-1910 Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1889 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/N01569
In our passage John is inspired by God the Holy Spirit to give us His guidance on praying for sinners and their sin.
I John 5:16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.
The intercession.
Here specifically we are introduced to another type of prayer, and actually it is a sub-class of a petition. This is a petition to God on behalf of another person. This is called an intercession or intercessory prayer.
True Believers of course ought to pray for themselves, but the new life of Christ that we have in us, changes us and it joins us to other Believers. But it also enables us to love God and to love Man, all men, for Christ’s sake.
And so a true Believer is one that loves other people. Christians are those that love God, love our neighbor, love our enemies, and love the brothers. (Mt.5:43-44, Mt.22:35-45, Jn.15:12, Lk.6:27-28)
And one of the greatest ways that we can love another person is to intercede for them to God, to ask God to bless them and to help them. (Gal.6:10)
Love for neighbor.
This is obedience to the second greatest commandment in the Bible, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Mt.22:35-45) Love for our fellow man fulfills the second table of the holy law of God. (Rom.13:10-14, Gal.6:2, Gal.5:14, Exod.20:12-17, James 2:8)
Love for brother. 
The context of John’s words is a Christian praying for another Christian who is engaged in some sin.
I John 5:16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.
A few words here.
For physical needs.
Earlier, in chapter three, John tells Believers if you see your brother cold and hungry, then you ought to try to alleviate their physical needs. (I Jn.3:17-18, WCF 16.1-6, 26.1-2, Mt.25:31-46, Good Samaritan – Lk.10:25-37)
And if you have the ability to help your brother and you choose not to, this is a sign of spiritual death at worst and spiritual sickness at best. Indifference to our fellow man does not obey God’s command to love our fellow man, it is like a form of “soft” hate.
For spiritual needs.
Here John takes up the idea of seeing a fellow Christian with a spiritual or soulish need, that we similarly ought to seek to help alleviate the spiritual needs. This is where the prayer comes in.
Now let’s say a few things about sin and the Christian.
Sin.
Sin basically defined is a breach of God’s moral law, either not doing what God requires, or doing what He forbids, lawlessness. (I Jn.3:4, WLC 24, WSC 14, Exod.20:1-17)
Christians still sin.
The other thing the text implies is that Christians still sin. John spoke about this at the end of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two. (I Jn.1:5 – 2:6, note: this passage refutes Christian perfectionism and also the error of antinomianism)
Listen to our catechism.
WSC 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? A. No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God,(1) but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.(2) (1) Eccl. 7:20; 1 John 1:8,10; Gal. 5:17 (2) Gen. 6:5; Gen. 8:21; Rom. 3:9-21; James 3:2-13
Application.
Sin in the life of the Believer does not mean the Believer is a false Christian. True saving grace exists with the corruption of our flesh until the day we die.
This is not an excuse to sin. But it calls us to a life of charity towards our Christian neighbor. (Phil.2:1-11)
Acknowledging this truth curbs our fallen inclination to play the “pharisee” towards our brother in Christ, judging them excessively, while overlooking our own sin. (Mt.7:1-10, Col.3:12-13, Eph.4:1-4, Rom.15:7)
Christians observe the sin of other Christians.
Another truth implied by the text, with one Christian seeing the sin in another Christian’s life, is that true Christians live in community with other Christians.
I am not saying that we live on Christian communes, but rather that we are faithful regular members of a local church. (WCF 26.1-2, Heb.13:7, 17, WCF 25.1-4) 
And in particular that we do not forsake the weekly gathering together for worship on the Lord’s Day. (Heb.10:25-27)
In addition to this, the early Christians did live in regular close contact with one another because their Jewish and Gentile families shunned them because of their ownership of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. (Mt.10:17-41, Acts 8:1-5)
By necessity then Christians were the community for other Christians. The book of Acts said Christians often met daily for Bible reading and study and for prayer and to have a meal together. (Acts 2:46)
Think of this, how many Muslims to you personally interact with on a regular basis? Likely not many. So, you are not privy to their sin.
How many professing Christians do you interact with? Likely a lot more. So you witness the sin of the people you are around. And they get to also see your sin. This is why we see so much sin in our families, because we are most often and most intimate with family members.
Let’s speak about the Christian seeing his or her fellow Christian sinning.
Notice we are told, one Christian actually “sees” with their own eyes or ears the other Christian sinning. This is not Sally hearing Betty say Suzie did thus and so. That scenario is called Sally, Betty, and potentially Suzie sinning!
As a brief aside, there is one Christian that we for sure see sin every single day. Do you have any idea who that Christian may be? Hmmm? Self! Keep that in mind.
Notice what the response of the Christian seeing the other Christian sinning is not.
It is not doing nothing. After all, we all sin. Se la vie. It is not joining in the sin. After all we are under grace and not law. (Rom.6:1-10)
It is not complaining or gossiping to others about the sin. It is not even running off to tell the minister about the sin!
God does not call us to be the self-appointed “sin police” in the church. Though we are not to be indifferent to sin, especially our own. And this verse is also not a license to be the church busy-body, sticking our noses into everyone else’s business under the guise of holy concern for God and for God’s people. Beloved, remember God knows our hearts.
Christians pray for God to rescue their fellow Christian from their sin.
The text says, the Christian prays.
The proper response of the Christian to sin in the church is prayer.
Obviously, this does not deny or negate other Bible passages that speak of church discipline, and or actually speaking to a sinning brother. (Mt.18:15-20, I Cor.5:1-13, 2 Tim.3:14-17, I Tim.5:20, Titus 3:10, Rom.16:17, 2 Cor.2:7)
But I would say prayer ought to be the first response, and also practicing the other things, church discipline, and direct confrontation without prayer are bound to fail. Prayer is the key. Because God’s assistance is the key.
And one theologian points out that the syntax of the Greek verb is future tense is he (or she) “will pray”. So this is an acknowledgement of what true Christians “will do” when they observe other Christians sins. (note: this is in contrast with other translations that translate this as “should pray”, meaning an exhortation to pray. See John Stott, p.185)
And we are actually told the reason this occurs is because the one Christian considers the other Christian his brother or sister, his true family.
Beloved think of some of your blood family members.
Application.
Beloved, the Bible tells us: to love one another, to confess our sins to one another, to forgive one another and to pray for one another. (Jn.13:34, Eph.4:32, I Pt.4:8, James 5:15)
I had a friend of mine tell me that he was sharing his sin-burden with another Christian brother, and another Christian was listening in, and he piped up to my friend, “do you have a problem with porn?! My friend was talking about another sin. And so he said to him, no I do not have a problem with porn, and if I did, I would not tell you!
And the reason being is that he knew that he would not receive mercy, that he would not receive prayer. All that he would receive was condemnation and judgment!
Oh Beloved, the Christian religion is one where the Savior prays, “Don’t let that ransomed sinner die”! (Charles Wesley, Arise My Soul Arise, 1742)
Christ prayed, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. Christ lives to make intercession for broken sinners and for sin-caught saints. (Heb.7:24-26)
Do you pray for your family members caught in sin? Of course you do, because that is your father or your mother or your brother or sister. You see the idea. The more we embrace the truth of Christ and the truth of the Body of Christ the more true family-love we would have for fellow Christians.
How many of us here this morning are Christians because someone prayed for us? Lord break the power of sin in that man or woman’s life. Lord open the blind eyes of my son or my daughter.
God restores the communion of the sinning Christian.
And we see that God says he will give life for that sinning Christian in response to the praying Christian.
By this we see the reality of God, His nearness, intimacy, attendance upon our prayer, His omniscience, power, good, mercy, love – grace.
Now there is some debate among theologians as to what this “life” given actually means.
Is God preserving the physical life of a sinning Christian that apart from the intercessory prayer He would have taken, as we see mentioned in the abuse of the Lord’s Supper in I Corinthians 11? Or is this also physical life from impending physical death as alluded to in James 5:15-20 where the elders pray and anoint the sick man, and he is restored?
Or is this “life” to be taken in a metaphorical sense, spiritual, not physical? I believe the context requires us to take this in a spiritual sense. After all true Christians, even true Christians that sin, we have eternal life in Christ, and we cannot lose that eternal life, even by our sinning.
The give life means to restore such a one away from the sin and to a holy close walk with Christ, as our union and communion with Christ is our very life. (Jn.5:24, see Stott, p.188, Martyn-Llyod Jones, p.675 – the “life” of fellowship with God)
Like Peter restored to “life” close communion with Jesus after he denied Jesus.
I John 5:16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.
God limits prayer for a specific reason and class.
Now we come to something more perplexing. God through John tells us that there is a limitation to our prayers regarding sinning Christians, or sinning professing Christians.
This is not the only occasion in the Bible where one of God’s prophets or apostle’s is inspired by the Holy Spirit to direct us not to pray for another person.
Let me give us another example from the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 7:13. And now, because you (Judah) have done all these things,” declares the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 “I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim. 16 “As for you, (Jeremiah) do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you. (Jer.11:14, 14:11)
God also tells Samuel to pray for Hophni and Phinehas.
I Samuel 2:23. He (Eli) said to them (Hophni and Phinehas), “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 “No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’S people circulating. 25 “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death. (I Sam.4:11)
God told Samuel to stop praying for king Saul because God rejected him, because Saul rejected God. (I Sam.16:1)
Jesus Himself says that He does not pray for each and every person.
John 17:9. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
John 17:20. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
Let me say something here, not praying for someone strikes most Christians as wrong, and never right in the sight of God. But we just looked at God Himself saying that very thing.
But this does not stop professing Christians from rejecting the clear word of God, which to my mind is on strict justice rather than extending mercy, which is God’s sovereign right. (Rom.9:11-24)
One theologian (C. H. Dodd) says this,
In practice we can quietly drop what John here says about not praying for certain types of sinners. Because we cannot think that it can ever be contrary to the will of Him who came to call sinners to repentance that we should pray for the worst of sinners, who may after all be ourselves. (I. Howard Marshall, The Epistles of John, p.251)
While we admit the hard things in our passage, and while we may sympathize with some of what the writer just said, God clearly says – do not pray – for some. Beloved, do not try to be wiser or better than God, it is sin.
Christians are not to pray for other professing Christians that commit the sin unto death.
Now let’s address the even thornier question, what is this sin that leads unto death?
Sin that is unto spiritual death.
As we said with the “life” being spiritually understood, so too “death” is spiritually understood. (Lev.20:1-27, Num.18:22, Rom.1:32, Acts 5:1-11, I Cor.5:5, 11:30)
All sin deserves death.
Also, we do acknowledge that before God all sin is a capital crime deserving death, physical, spiritual, and eternal. (Rom.5:12, 6:23, James 1:15)
There are various explanations to what this sin is. I will give us the three most prominent.
Do not pray for Christians that commit unforgiveable mortal sins.
There have been Christian theologians throughout history that say, this refers to those kinds of sin that are forgivable versus those kinds of sins which are not forgivable.
The Roman Catholic Church in part developed it’s understanding of venial versus mortal sins from this passage. Venial are smaller sins, sins that are committed unwittingly and against one’s will, that are forgivable.
But how does one commit sin while not willing to sin, at least in some sense? How much sin do we commit that is utterly without our “wits” or without some measure of knowledge of wrong doing?
Mortal sins are larger sins done with knowledge and will, such as adultery and murder. And these sins kill the grace of God in man, they are now dead in sin once again. According to Rome, wrongly so.
Do not pray for professing Christians that apostatize.
Another option is that this is the sin of apostasy. (Heb.6:4-6, 10:26, 12:16-17) The rejoinder usually here is that true Christians cannot truly and finally fall away. That is true. But false professors can apostatize, and if persisted in they can never be brought to repentance. Think of the one man – Judas.
Do not pray for professing Christians or formerly professing Christians that blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
Another choice, is that this is the sin of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The nature of this sin is also debated. I take the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit to be ascribing the works of the Lord Jesus Christ done in the power of the Holy Spirit to be by the power of Satan. (Mt.12:28)
Matthew 12:24. But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Mk.3:29, see also Jn.3:18-21, Jn.8:24, Rev.20:15, 21:8)
Members of the visible household of God.
If you notice the people to whom Jesus speaks about the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit are members of the visible household of God. So, this blasphemy is a species of apostasy, which can only be committed by professing members of the church, old or new.
Religious leaders of the visible household of God.
Another thing we see about this unforgivable sin, is that the people that commit it are the leaders of the visible household of faith.
Do not pray for (former) professing Christians that replace the true Christ for an antichrist.
For me, the sin that leads to spiritual and eternal death is the essence of choice number two and three, which is a deliberate refusal to believe that Jesus is the Christ the only Savior of sinners, even when confronted with Savior Christ from the word of God, week in and week out in church on the Lord’s Day.
Persistent apostasy of previous Christians who previously professed the true gospel.
So this is not the “ordinary unbeliever”, this is not the Muslim or the Hindu. And this is not even the weak apostle Peter, who denies Jesus out of momentary weakness. (Gal.2:10-12, Lk.22:23)
It seems to me that the likely candidates for this sin are some religious leader rejecting the true Christ and replacing with a false Christ – and doing this purposefully. (Heb.6:5, Mt.4:3) This sin crucifies Jesus all over again! This sin tramples on the holy blood of the true Christ. (Heb.6:6-8)
These people are proud, boastful, confident in their mocking of Christ, they are the dogs and the pigs, to whom we should cease casting the Pearl of the Gospel. (Mt.7:1-6)
For those that stubbornly and continuously reject Christ Crucified, Christ Alone, they are actively choosing death.
Matthew Henry says that we should not pray for God to forgive the sins of those that reject Christ while they live apart from Christ, as if God would give mercy to those that refuse the only Mediator of Mercy. He says, instead we should pray that God grant them faith in Christ, to the end of finding forgiveness.
In other words we ought not to pray for sinners to enjoy their sin while remaining apart from the only Savior of sinners.
But even mild Matthew Henry says,
In case it should appear that any have committed the irremissible blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and the total apostasy from the illuminating convictive powers of the Christian religion, it should seem that they are not to be prayed for at all. For what remains but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, to consume such adversaries? Heb. 10:27.
Applicatory conclusion.
Well, I suppose I have not been able to be utterly precise. But one thing is certain that there is some sin or some continuation in sin, beyond which man has no hope.
John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress represents this man as a man in an iron cage, that is unable to repent. (Heb.6:4-6)
Now you may say, but John refers to Christians seeing their “brother” Christian commit this serious-death sin.
But if Christians have passed from death into life in Christ, how can John call such people “brother” Christians?
The solution is simple, but sad.
There is a marked difference between a true Believer in Christ and a false professor of Christ.
One is in Christ. The other is merely in the Church and not in Christ. Such a one is a false Christian, a worker of iniquity wearing the outward clothes of Christian profession but devoid of life-giving power. (2 Tim.3:1-10, Mt.7:13-29)
Such false Christians are anti-Christs. (I Jn.2:22-23:2, 2 Jn.1:9, I Jn.3:10, I Jn.2:19, 5:12, Martyn Lloyd-Jones says this is the sin of the antichrists – I Jn.4:1-3, I Jn.2:18-19)
Remember Jesus Himself told His preachers, that after you give the gospel of life to needy sinners, if they continue rejecting the day of grace, there may come a time where you have to shake the dust off your sandals and leave them in their sin. (Mt.10:14-15, Job 38:12-13, Mt.11:20-30)
They have chosen death over life; they have chosen condemnation over salvation. A terrifying thought.
Beloved, stay in your Bible. Stay on your knees. Stay praying for the brothers. Stay near to Christ. Stay away from sin. All will be well – in Christ.
Amen
No responses yet